Am I reading this right? Are people suggesting going to Japan for a month to meet wrestlers? Who on this board could possibly get that time off to travel to Japan for so long?

I'm going for a week. Doing the january 4th show, hopefully meet one or two guys in their restaurant, and the rest of the week I'm gonna do tourist stuff. I could get a month off but that would cost a pretty penny and fuck up my vacation days haha

Yeah, I did a week last time, which was great, but I'm shooting for two weeks this coming New Year's week. The flight in/out kills at least a day right there, so I think having an extra week will make the trip more relaxed this time, and I'll be able to do stuff more casually, rather than stress myself trying to fit everything in. I'm still pricing flights, so all lengths are "subject to change", but it should be in the neighborhood of two weeks.

This is pure fantasy and would obviously never happen but if there was an event that had Saito, Nagasaki, Killer khan, Kabuki, Chono, Fujinami, and some of the older guys from the 70s and 80s I am not listing, it would be very tempting to go. Like someone put together a convention of Japanese wrestlers who were big US names. Obviously zero chance but that would likely get me on a plane and I hate traveling.

I remember the Korakuen Hall shows had indy-type tables set up after the shows where you could get people, and although I'm not sure if it's "allowed" or not, we went down to the Korakuen parking garage and met people there too. I would doubt the Tokyo Dome show has anything at the venue during the show, but given how big NJPW has gotten in recent years, it wouldn't surprise me if they had some sort of Axxess style event that week somewhere - but that's speculation on my part.

Any promotion smaller than NJPW is likely similar to indy shows here, where you can get people at intermission or after the show. That week was so crazy with wrestlers in town, that I literally ran into wrestlers around the city at times when I wasn't even trying to meet people.

I didn't really go for the sole purpose of "meeting", but seeing Jeff Jarrett & AJ Styles at the Hard Rock, having M&G's with Hayabusa and Minami Toyota, and seeing a Great Sasuke in the parking garage of Korakuen Hall were total markout moments.

As far as "misses", I know we were scheduled to meet somebody (Wing Kanemura or Mister Danger, possibly both?) who cancelled, but for the most part meeting wrestlers were a bonus to the trip, not a mad-dash Pokemon mission.

Am I reading this right? Are people suggesting going to Japan for a month to meet wrestlers? Who on this board could possibly get that time off to travel to Japan for so long?

I'm going for a week. Doing the january 4th show, hopefully meet one or two guys in their restaurant, and the rest of the week I'm gonna do tourist stuff. I could get a month off but that would cost a pretty penny and fuck up my vacation days haha

Am I reading this right? Are people suggesting going to Japan for a month to meet wrestlers? Who on this board could possibly get that time off to travel to Japan for so long?

I'm going for a week. Doing the january 4th show, hopefully meet one or two guys in their restaurant, and the rest of the week I'm gonna do tourist stuff. I could get a month off but that would cost a pretty penny and fuck up my vacation days haha

I didn't really go for the sole purpose of "meeting", but seeing Jeff Jarrett & AJ Styles at the Hard Rock, having M&G's with Hayabusa and Minami Toyota, and seeing a Great Sasuke in the parking garage of Korakuen Hall were total markout moments.

As far as "misses", I know we were scheduled to meet somebody (Wing Kanemura or Mister Danger, possibly both?) who cancelled, but for the most part meeting wrestlers were a bonus to the trip, not a mad-dash Pokemon mission.

I put a deposit down for this trip but had to pull out as I got promoted at my job to a position where January-April 15th there was no way I could take a week off. This report burns my soul.

Am I reading this right? Are people suggesting going to Japan for a month to meet wrestlers? Who on this board could possibly get that time off to travel to Japan for so long?

You're not reading it right. I listed every show featuring big names for the next month. My suggestion is as follows:

- Fly to Japan

- Spend 2 weeks in Japan. During your time there do normal touristy things such as visit the temples, theme parks, Universal Studios Japan, enjoy the food etc etc.

- Whilst there, maybe end every night or every 3 nights or what have you with a professional wrestling show. If you stayed 5 minutes away from one of the smaller (But regular) wrestling venues you could meet a lot of the lower end "name" talent and if you were willing to do the travel to Korakuen Hall you could get a lot of the bigger "name" talent without much issue. Especially at the "special" shows such as Ultimo Dragon's 30th anniversary.

- Maybe make trip coincide with a couple of bigger shows featuring many talents you want to meet.

- Enjoy vacation mixing it with wrestling and return.

---

Lets assume you go for 2 weeks and include the 2-3 days of travel time. Is it that farfetched to believe someone with a full time job that acquires holiday leave would be able to get 16-17 days off of work? Maybe it's different in the States but here in Australia we get 4 weeks of paid holiday leave for each year we're with the employer. 2 weeks in Japan is definitely doable for an Australian.

Well, it's official: I'm going back to Japan! Wrestling will obviously be a big part of it (I'll be there during the WrestleKingdom week), but I'm going to enjoy myself - any "meets" will be a bonus, and likely to be at actual events, not on the street stuff, unless something just falls into my lap.

Flight booked, hotel booked, two week stay - 10 years to the week of my last trip. Can't wait.

Well, it's official: I'm going back to Japan! Wrestling will obviously be a big part of it (I'll be there during the WrestleKingdom week), but I'm going to enjoy myself - any "meets" will be a bonus, and likely to be at actual events, not on the street stuff, unless something just falls into my lap.

Flight booked, hotel booked, two week stay - 10 years to the week of my last trip. Can't wait.

Well, it's official: I'm going back to Japan! Wrestling will obviously be a big part of it (I'll be there during the WrestleKingdom week), but I'm going to enjoy myself - any "meets" will be a bonus, and likely to be at actual events, not on the street stuff, unless something just falls into my lap.

Flight booked, hotel booked, two week stay - 10 years to the week of my last trip. Can't wait.

When are you going? I'm going in a couple of weeks, but absolutely not for 'meets'.

I'm going from 12/29 through 1/12, so I'll be there for the big Tokyo Dome show, and whatever other wrestling stuff is going on that week. I also obviously plan on doing all of the cultural/touristy stuff I can fit in as well.

Actually, my flight and hotel combined came in well under $2000, so I'm very happy with the deals I've gotten. Obviously, food and other costs are going to add greatly to that bill once the trip happens, but the big two expenses came in under what I budgeted for, so I'm off to a good start money-wise.

Actually, my flight and hotel combined came in well under $2000, so I'm very happy with the deals I've gotten. Obviously, food and other costs are going to add greatly to that bill once the trip happens, but the big two expenses came in under what I budgeted for, so I'm off to a good start money-wise.

Well, it's official: I'm going back to Japan! Wrestling will obviously be a big part of it (I'll be there during the WrestleKingdom week), but I'm going to enjoy myself - any "meets" will be a bonus, and likely to be at actual events, not on the street stuff, unless something just falls into my lap.

Flight booked, hotel booked, two week stay - 10 years to the week of my last trip. Can't wait.

Wow congrats! I look forward to reading a report (if you end up writing one up). I'll have tons of questions lol.